Metallica fans are pissed. The release of the metal outfit's latest album, Death Magnetic, isn't quite what they were expecting, at least from a sound quality standpoint. Metallica fans contend that the album is overly distorted, that clipping distortion from the album being mastered too loud, are making for bad impressions. Ted Jensen, head engineer at Sterling Sound, who mastered the album, allegedly responded to fan concerns, writing "I'm not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else."Oddly enough, the Guitar Hero versions of these tracks, released last Friday, are in one man's words, "perfect." Ian Shepherd of the Mastering Media Blog has compared both versions of the tracks, finding that the studio album versions on the CD and LP are no match for their Guitar Hero counterparts. And some fans are looking to rip the video game version for a better sounding album. Surely, though, we can all agree it sounds better than St. Anger, Metallica's underwater tribute to banging on trash can lids for an hour. Metallica "Death Magnetic" Clipping Distortion [Mastering Media Blog]